Notice anything different? After months of scheming, plentiful design changes, and countless hours spent chatting with a very patient Tim Miner – the big switch has finally occurred: TheMorningFresh.com has officially joined the Trail Sherpa network of outdoor bloggers. The process of making the leap has been in the works since last fall, and I am honored to be part of such an excellent group of outdoor experts. This is the start of somethin’ big, folks!

So what’s new on TheMorningFresh.com?

First of all, kiss those obnoxious ads goodbye! I have to admit that for the first year or so of running my blog, I didn’t even realize Word Press was sticking clunky ads at the bottom of all my posts – they do a sneaky job of not showing them when you’re logged into your account. Trail Sherpa helped me ditch the unwanted advertisements, giving you a sleek and uninterrupted experience on the blog.

Your browsing experience now features a responsive site design thanks to Jessica, the head Trail Sherpa site designer. No matter what device you’re visiting TheMorningFresh.com from, your visual experience will be vastly improved and seamless. Everything from the homepage header to the logo will adjust to optimize your viewing.

Check out the new logo! I’m proud to say I designed that myself, and am looking forward to exploring ways to apply it across all of The Morning Fresh’s social platforms. What do you think of the new logo? I think it plays well into the sleek, simplified new design style.

And there are many more surprises to be released in the upcoming weeks! From excellent new recipe and review templates to a Premiere Protein giveaway, TheMorningFresh.com has a lot of tricks up our sleeve. Now that the switch has finally been completed, it’s time to overhaul my content and catch you up on all the adventures I’ve been embarking on while I traveled through Joshua Tree National Park, Red Rocks, and more.

Curious about the Trail Sherpa network?Click here to meet the rest of our outdoor crew, including my good friend Dave Creech.

For over a year, I’ve talked about this yearlong climbing trip, schemed up some hype around the Simply Adventure idea, and dreamt about the day I’d finally hit the road – and that day is today.

We were actually supposed to depart last night, but a series of unfortunate van mishaps kept us up all evening working on the interior of our new “home.” Nearing midnight, we decided to throw in the towel and abandon our goal of hitting the road before the sun rose. At first, I felt kind of guilty about not leaving; so many people have been eagerly awaiting my official departure. Ultimately, a friend offered wise advice that soothed my apprehensions about leaving a day late:

“A year of adventure can wait a day.”

And he was right. After giving ourselves a few extra hours to put the finishing touches on the van to make sure everything was perfect (and a quick pitstop to grab my last pint of corn nuggets from Lindy’s Chicken), we hit the road feeling 100% ready. Had we rushed through the night and attempted to leave “on time,” we would have woken up miserable with ourselves. I think we made the right choice, do you?

Right now we’re cooped up in a Mississippi rest stop with free wi-fi, scoping out our plan for tomorrow and catching up on e-mails. We drove through the Florida Panhandle and picked up a new bike rack, paused at a Walmart in Alabama, and crossed over into Mississippi – all in a fairly relaxing day. Tomorrow, we’ll continue on through Louisiana, and plan to make it out to Houston, Texas by Sunday!

Beginning this newfound van-dwelling lifestyle has been an oddly calming experience. I was expecting some big epiphany, some momentous occasion when we finally hit the road – but it’s all just peaceful. This is all really happening, and I think I am ready for it all. We’ll see how it all evolves, ha.

Want to know where we’re headed? Stay tuned for the full itinerary (through March) on Monday!

Things have been rather quiet around here for a few days – and I’m proud to admit that I’ve been enjoying some time disconnected from the digital realm and fully focused on connecting with friends and family down in Miami. I hope all you adventurers are enjoying the holidays as well, whether you’ve traveled back to your hometown to reconnect with family, or are spending Christmas out in Arizona with some fellow van-dwellers, like Beth and Forrest of 3 Up Adventures.

From myself, Niko, and the entire Boué family,

Happy Holidays!

May your holiday be filled with lots of cheer and love, plenty of hot cocoas spiked with Baileys, homemade feasts, and outdoor adventures.
If you’re up north enjoying some snow this Christmas, eat a snowball in my honor!

During this special edition of Twitter’s only chat dedicated solely to outdoor adventure travel, we teamed up with the folks at the Hydration Summitfor a discussion about staying hydrated while out on the trail. As an added bonus, Geigerrig generously donated a hydration pack to give away to one lucky chat participant.

From favored methods of carrying water while hiking to the best ways to keep water bottles clean, this weeks’ discussion dove into every aspect of staying hydrated while outdoors. We were joined some experts in the field, and everyone came away from the conversation with some new knowledge, and a few new items to add to our gear wish lists. Check it out:

Q1: How do you keep hydrated on the trail?

@JillianLaura: “A1: Well, thanks to a total lack of gear, I opted for bottles this past weekend. Even with rationing almost ran out! #atqa”

After requesting any suggestions that the Adventure Travel Q&A chat community may have, we received a great inquiry about discussing the relationship between technology and the outdoors from Adam Nutting. The result was a great Twitter chat that generated plenty of opinions about topics like taking technology on the trail, favorite gear, and the merits of knowing how to navigate by compass when your GPS fails. We also had a few great guest appearances by awesome outdoor technology brands like Goal Zero, Pocket Ranger, and Point6 Socks.

Check out the conversation recap, and add your answers to the comments section!

As a special ode to all the wonderful fathers who love the outdoors, this week’s #ATQA Adventure Travel chat was a special “Father’s Day” edition. I won’t even try to deny that I got totally teary-eyed while crafting the recap; there are some truly touching tweets that were shared during the chat.

I was unable to perform my usual co-hosting duties as I was stuck at an airport awaiting a plane during the chat, but the wonderful David Croyle did an excellent job as guest co-host. Shoot, he did it so well, I may even be out of a job. Check out the tweets:

Q1: What’s your favorite outdoor memory with your dad?

@RamblinBears: “A1: My favorite outdoor memory was going to Yosemite with my Dad for the first time at age 16. #ATQA”

@JoyfulShoehorn: “A1. Going hiking in Idaho with my dad & leaving my mom and sister back at the hotel to whine. #ATQA”

It has been quite a while since our last Monday Motivation, compliments of Marianne Curtis, but I’d say it’s high time to get back into the swing of things. Life has been throwing plenty of lemons in my direction, so a few inspirational words seem like a great reminder that there is always something positive to be gained from any situation.

“Are you really that positive, or is it fake? My answer is simple: I truly believe it is way easier to live with a smile on your face than to spend one extra second of this precious life consumed with negative emotions. The only way we will ever reach our full potential is to shed the negativity.”

Hell, maybe we should go for a double-whammy twofer of Monday Motivation to really get our minds ticking. Enjoy:

“So here is the blueprint for success and happiness in life: When you get knocked down, stand back up. When you get knocked again, stand up again. And just when you think you can’t stand back up, smile, wipe the sweat off and stand up with just a little more authority in your step.”

A classic shot from last year’s midwest road trip, and one of my all time favorite critter photos. I can’t recall if we were waiting for someone or just decided to stop, but our crew ended up spending quite some time exploring this charming community garden in Denver, Colorado.

There were bees swarming every blossom, and pudgy vegetables lined the soiled pathways. I’m no gardening expert, but the keepers of this little sliver of land certainly knew what they were doing by the looks of their blushing rhubarb and cautious signs that warned of recently planted seeds or particularly delicate plants. It made me want a garden, so very badly.

Marianne’s weekly inspirational quote really struck a chord with me. Unfortunately, I’m the one in the funk – but I reckon that an afternoon lunch and pina coladas with my lady climber pal Ashley will pick me right up. That, and a little road trip for one to do a bit of soul searching.

“Pick someone up this week. If they are being negative, or in a funk, be the positive energy they need to pull them out of it. At that point, you are truly living. It’s when we get outside ourselves that life becomes a beautiful thing.” – Marianne Curtis

If you find yourself in a funk like mine, you need to get yourself out of your negative environment and discover what is going to make (and keep) you happy. You know what my advice will always be: GET OUTSIDE! Whether you’re climbing or sunbathing, fresh air and nature will always cure your blues. Enjoy your spring break, readers!